For the past 14 and 1/2 years I have been the head coach of the Speech and Debate Team at Huntington High School. As a Public Forum judge, I believe that hitting the key voting issues in the Final Focus is very important and helps to secure the winner. Explaining specifically why your team is winning the debate is how to finalize the win. In addition, hit the impacts clearly. Make sure the reasoning your team uses is clear and precise. Never assume that as a judge I know what you are talking about in your case, so explain the details clearly.

Speed is fine as long as I, the judge, can understand every word you and your partner say.

Public Forum: As a PF judge, I am fine with speed, but please do not spread. If you spread and I cannot flow all of your arguments then they will not carry through the round. My flow is greater than your flow. I am fine with all competitors keeping track of their time but I will keep the official time. If you continue speaking after time has elapsed, I will not flow your arguments. Please be mindful of time when calling for cards, it can be a time suck and you may end up using all of your prep time. I will keep track of your prep time (especially when card calling). I will tell you when I start and end the timer. I will not follow your directives to do so and the time that I have is the official time. Decorum is important to me as well, while I won't give you a loss for poor decorum, I will give you lower speaker points.

Lincoln Douglas: As a LD judge, I am more of a traditional judge and prefer that the debate come down to one of the framework rather than contentions. I am fine with speed, but please do not spread. If you spread and I cannot flow all of your arguments then they will not carry through the round. My flow is greater than your flow. I am fine with all competitors keeping track of their time but I will keep the official time. If you continue speaking after time has elapsed, I will not flow your arguments. Please be mindful of time when calling for cards, it can be a time suck and you may end up using all of your prep time. I will keep track of your prep time (especially when card calling). I will tell you when I start and end the timer. I will not follow your directives to do so and the time that I have is the official time. Decorum is important to me as well, while I won't give you a loss for poor decorum, I will give you lower speaker points.

Congress: As a Congress judge, I like to hear clear and supported evidence in order to make an opinion about the legislation being debated. I enjoy hearing passionate speakers who care about their constituents. Decorum is important to me as well, while I won't give you a loss for poor decorum, I will give you lower speaker points.

I graduated from Parkersburg High School in 2015, Marshall University in 2019, and West Virginia University College of Law in 2022. I did Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas, and Congress debate when I was in high school. I have been judging all three events since I graduated in 2015. I'm currently a criminal defense attorney in Charleston, West Virginia.

I tend to not like to lay out a paradigm. Asking me what my paradigm is and then failing to adhere to it sets students up for failure, instead I judge the debate that is put forward. That being said, I can keep up pretty cleanly with speed and jargon if you do it well. Some people say, "you said you were fine with speed but on my ballot you took away speaker points for my pace!" What I mean is I can keep up with speed if you still enunciate and present well. The same applies to using jargon effectively.

When it comes to weighing, I value solvency and linkage. You can't pose a problem and not effectively say how your side addresses it. Additionally, you can't say "neg solves for x" without giving me the linkage for how it solves for it.

Other than that, I don't maintain any preferences and I judge the debate on its face on the guidelines the rules provide.